The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has reclaimed public land valued at Sh25 million in Kisumu County after a court ruled that it had been unlawfully allocated to a private individual.
The Kisumu Environment and Land Court ruled on Thursday that a 0.1116-hectare parcel, originally owned by Kenya Railways Corporation, had been fraudulently acquired and ordered its return to public ownership.
Justice Samson Okong’o directed the cancellation of the Certificate of Title for Kisumu Municipality Block 7/559, which had been issued to Fred Ogonji.
The court established that the land had never been available for private allocation, as it was part of a larger parcel set aside for Kenya Railways.
EACC investigations traced the land’s ownership back to the East African Railways and Harbours Administration, which held it under Legal Notice No. 440 of 1963.
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The property was later transferred to Kenya Railways Corporation in 1986 through Legal Notice No. 24.
However, in 1998, Ogonji received an allotment letter for the land, despite its public status.
This was followed by a Certificate of Lease issued on 30 June 2000 by then Commissioner of Lands, Sammy Komen Mwaita, finalising the illegal transaction.
EACC moved to court in 2020 under case ELC/E39/2020, seeking a declaration that the land was public property and urging the revocation of Ogonji’s title.
Justice Okong’o, in his ruling, determined that the title had been fraudulently acquired and rendered it null and void.
This recovery is part of EACC’s ongoing efforts to reclaim public land in Kisumu County that has been unlawfully taken.
The agency has previously recovered land belonging to Kisumu Law Courts, Kenya Railways (Kisumu Port) and the KIWASCO water treatment plant.
With rampant land grabbing in the region, EACC continues to pursue cases involving illegally acquired public properties worth more than Sh4 billion, which remain before the Environment and Land Court.
